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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Spin Control

Senate GOP: Open up state union contract talks

OLYMPIA -- Contract negotiations between the state and its employees' unions should be open to the public and legislators, Senate Republicans insisted Tuesday.
 
With two days left in the special session, the Senate Ways and Means Committee approved on a partisan vote a proposal to make public worker contract negotiations subject to the state's open meetings laws. They're currently exempt, with requirements that contracts and other documents be available after agreements are reached.
 
Union leaders said that would make contract talks for public workers different from nearly all negotiations in private businesses, adding that the leaders of the committee are conducting their negotiations over the state's 2015-17 operating budget in secret.
 
"Just as the House and Senate engage in budget negotiations behind closed doors, both parties negotiating contracts need the freedom to engage in negotiating privately before presenting the final product for voting," Michelle Woodrow, director of Teamsters Local 117, which represents state corrections workers.
 
Committee Chairman Andy Hill, R-Redmond, said the proposal was an attempt to make contract talks more transparent in a system where employee dues are sent to unions that can make political contributions to candidates, including the governor's race. That's different from the private sector, he said.
 
"The same person who may have received those contributions is then behind a closed door negotiating for wage increases," said Hill, who is among Republicans being mentioned as a candidate for governor next year.
 
Other states have passed some version of a law that opens up contract talks for public employee unions, he said.
 
Sen. Bob Hasegawa, D-Seattle, argued legislators had better things to do than hold a hearing on a bill that will never pass: 
"We're two days before the end of the first special session," he said, adding the proposal could push budget negotiators further apart. "The budget should be our No. 1 priority."


Jim Camden
Jim Camden joined The Spokesman-Review in 1981 and retired in 2021. He is currently the political and state government correspondent covering Washington state.

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